Really Really New

[sde1500]

Basically Ammonia spikes, the falls, and Nitrites rise. Then Nitrites fall and nitrates rise. Not even worth testing one til the prior tests zero.

 

[gjustinj]

Basically Ammonia spikes, the falls, and Nitrites rise. Then Nitrites fall and nitrates rise. Not even worth testing one til the prior tests zero.

Got it, yea I studied this a bit. I will get an ammonia tester

 

[gjustinj]

Refractometer is a must. Also, you do not need to test SG every day. Once your levels are set, you need to make sure you top off your water with fresh water in order to account for evaporation. Auto-top off systems are extremely beneficial to having a successful tank, especially if you plan on having coral in the future. I would say to look into getting these asap,

Refractometer
Auto-top off
Use only RODI water-dont need to buy a unit, can probably pick up water weekly from LFS
Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, alkalinity, magnesium, and calcium test kits. I use Salifert.

Test the water during the cycle every couple of days. Once you see a spike in ammonia and nitrite, you wait until those go down and nitrate rises. Once that rises, you can do a nice 20% water change and you should be good to add a few members of a clean up crew. If all goes well there, you can add the rest of your clean up crew. After that is successful (hopefully), you can look to add your clown pair.

Good luck. A lot of good advice from people on here, use it, learn it, and have fun!

Thanks! I will run to the store and get an ammonia test kit today

 

[kmbyrnes]

Have to agree a refractometer and RODI are good investments.
I bought both before I moved from a 12g nano to my first 110.
With a 125, you will find hauling water gets really old. really fast.
You don't say what kind of tank you are going for - FOWLR, Zoa/Softie, LPS or SPS.
You can get by with 'looser' control over your parameters in a FOWLR compared to an SPS tank.
These 2 items will make that control much more efficient.
Good luck and happy reefing.

 

[gjustinj]

Have to agree a refractometer and RODI are good investments.
I bought both before I moved from a 12g nano to my first 110.
With a 125, you will find hauling water gets really old. really fast.
You don't say what kind of tank you are going for - FOWLR, Zoa/Softie, LPS or SPS.
You can get by with 'looser' control over your parameters in a FOWLR compared to an SPS tank.
These 2 items will make that control much more efficient.
Good luck and happy reefing.

Hey there! I am going to do some easier corals (not the more difficult ones) with an anemone and some clown fish. First thing I am doing however some bottom crawlers (snails and shrimp), then a week or two later I'll add a clown to see how everything is going, eventually i'll add more. I don't want to add anything too fast to disrupt anything majorly.

 

[gjustinj]

Alright, my ammonia level is .08 according my red reef test kit I grabbed yesterday. I took 3 cocktail shrimp and put them at the toe of a pair of pantyhose and hung in the tank - this seems to help get my ammonia level to cycle faster according to many aquarists. Also while at the store yesterday they got a brand new shipment of dry rock so I am going to head to the hardware store and pick up a chissel and saw to do my best at aquascaping. They sell an underwater glue (JB WaterWeld) that a lot of Aquarists seem to use, so I'll pick up some of those and try my best at aquascaping a really nice open layout with big cave like features. BRS's youtube has some really nice videos on this!

I still did not add my skimmer - I'll probably get to that this weekend, right now my focus is getting my ammonia level right and aquascaping to my desires (i've already spent a ton of money why not make it perfect?)

 

[Stolireef]

OP:

Not sure if you've done this yet, but I'd strongly recommend slowing down and doing some reading. At the top of this forum, there are a series of sticky posts about setting up a tank, proper water chemistry and husbandry, lighting, stocking, etc. Some of the things you've mentioned in your posts suggest that you haven't done this reading yet and that perhaps you are not getting the best advice from your LFS and/or friends. Not to say they don't have successful systems, but...

You can certainly keep a reef tank on a budget but in order to do so, you really have to know what your doing since you will have less room for error. By way of example, you can certainly keep a reef tank without a sump and using a HOB skimmer. You can also use a canister filter. That said, you need to know, in some detail, the drawbacks of these things so you can adjust for them.

Since you are just starting your cycle, you have plenty of time to read and learn. Ask lots of questions here and you'll be fine.

P.S. Any time someone says this is the 'only way to do something' it's time to solicit other opinions. Be careful however of hearing only what you want to hear. If 90% of the opinions say you need a better skimmer and 10% say you don't, make sure you're not listening to the 10% just because it would be cheaper.

 

[JUNBUG361]

:wave:Hello

 

[crawlerman]

Hey there Crawlerman, almost right. I mixed the salt and water in buckets measuring at a slightly lower salinity (added more salinity later). I also added a heater into the tank a few days later, and then a day later another heater (it's now 78 degrees). Do you believe I should still go get a piece of new live rock from the fish store? I did use ammonia/bacteria (120 gallon bottle) direct from the fish store that was being kept in a refrigerator. Is that good?

I can go grab an ammonia test kit, and another piece of live rock if necessary from the fish store - np. I wanted a sump and drilled tank, but it's not gonna work with my setup - my stand is all open except for one small door in the middle where i have my canister.

Ok, you are fine. I thought you filled your tank up with chlorinated tap water then mixed. You need to wait a long time before adding an anemone. Most say a year. I never got one because I always worry about it moving and stinging my corals.

 

[HaKs310]

First off
<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>

1. Salinity Definitely get a refractometer with calibration fluid, they are inexpensive compared to other things in this hobby. About $20 for the refractomers, $12 for the fluid.

2. RO/DI Unless you have tested your tap water or know what's in there I would stop using it. You can get a quality RO/DI unit that will provide clean RO drinking water for your family and pristine DI water for your tank. Figure about $200. Installation is quite simple and there are plenty of YouTube videos out there to follow.

3. Canister Filter What are you currently running in it as far as filtration? These can be great if properly maintained and running the correct filtration media; hence the mixed reviews when you did your research.

4. Flow What else are using for flow? I did not see anything mentioned.